2024-11-02 44 -93

Hash location, covered by aspen trees, as seen from south

Location

Inside the Vermillion River Wildlife Management Area in Farmington, MN.

Participants

Plans

Was driving from my hometown up to the Cities and this was on my way – my very first geohash! Grabbed an orange t-shirt (see below) and thought, what's the worst that could happen?

Expedition

I arrived on the scene after driving through some 'minimum maintenance roads', a category I wasn't aware we had in Minnesota. Pulled over and parked only to find I was not alone. This was expected — it was a weekend in November in the Midwest, and that means hunting season. I was honestly rather concerned about being mistaken for a deer or turkey and shot... I only had one orange t-shirt on, after all. Even upon arrival I could see four or five guys in blaze orange vests and waders further down the road. As I got ready and surveyed my options, they (and their dog) eventually caught up with me, and I asked them a couple questions about how best to get to the hash site. They were relatively helpful but seemed to overestimate my skill level in tramping through this kind of terrain.

The chief obstacle, I realized, was going to be the grasses/wetlands situated between the road where I started and the birch forest where I knew the hash was located. Thank goodness it had only rained once in the past couple weeks or all of this would be muck, I think. I started into the tallgrasses, trying as best as I could to follow the ghosts of trails that deer or hunters had trampled into existence at some point in the past. Lots of burs and lots of uneven terrain (I was pretty concerned about rolling my ankle out there, as I'd have a very rough time getting back.) Gall wasps too, y'all know about those? I tried my luck with dipping into some edge forest, but the swampy ground and thorny edge species (thanks, ecological niches!) made that even worse.

Eventually I got into the aspen (birch? aspen.) forest where things became thornier but less dense and so somewhat easier to pass through. Semi-aimless wandering led me to the coordinates, where I confirmed my location via several Google Maps GPS readings (see image). I snapped a couple photos under the aspen and took in the crisp Saturday air. Even if they're largely being used for hunting, I'm glad these kinds of managed 'natural' lands exist, broadly speaking. I returned through the grassy wetlands via a different route, attracting much more burs but arriving at the road quicker. The guys I met were still at their truck packing up their guns and their quarry (two pheasants by the looks of it). 'Did you find what you were lookin' for?' 'Yep!'

Photos

Looks promising...
Moo.
At the parking lot. Sign's seen better days.
I knew the hash was somewhere in there. Now how to get there?
Trickier terrain than it looks, especially with my healing ankle.
Success!
Me at the hash, featuring my improvised 'don't shoot me' orange outfit.
"If you're wondering where's my ass been / It's been cavorting amongst the aspens"